192 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



soon as they begin to show that they are singular, and are 

 well "out of the pin," as it is called, when they get their 

 full plumage, they will fatten with considerable rapidity, but 

 they grow first, and they grow so very f^ist, often, that they 

 have no time to get fat, at least not very fat. After a while 

 they gain weight very rapidly, and will become exceedingly 

 fat. AVhen this rapid fattening begins, or when the time 

 arrives, experienced breeders usually place those birds which 

 are ready in fattening coops or cages, such as previously 

 described, and force them with all rapidity. They gain fast 

 and become enormously fat. They will hold this condition 

 only a short time, say about ten days; then they begin to 

 foil away and can never be made fat again. 



Capons are occasionally seen in the New York and Phila- 

 delphia markets which weigh twelve or thirteen pounds, and 

 when hung up will measure more than three feet in length. 

 These markets are largely supplied by the farmers of Bucks 

 County, Pennsylvania, who have as the common fowls of the 

 section a mongrel race known as the Bucks County breed. 

 It is no doubt an excellent breed as a basis for raising cross- 

 bred chickens for capons, but I doubt if it would prove bet- 

 ter than Plymouth Rock fowls, or direct crosses of other 

 large breeds. 



Capons are almost universally narketed dry plucked, un- 

 drawn, with heads and legs on, and with the feathers of the 

 upper part of the neck, the tail and the last joint of the wings 

 left on. This is done to show what they are, the neck hackle 

 feathers proving the sex, and the undeveloped or imperfectly 

 developed tail feathers showing one noticable feature of the 

 capon. They are packed for shipping with their heads, neck 

 and tail feathers protected from dirt and injury, by being 

 wrapped in papers, so that when exhibited on the market- 

 stand the feathers shall be cleanly and unruffled. 



FATTENING PULLETS. 



If it is worth %vhile to fatten pullets for market, the 

 breeder ought to be sure of ready sale for them at high 

 prices, for a fat pullet that has never laid is a real delicacy, 

 and ought to be paid for accordingly. A few pullets in 

 every yard will begin to lay early, and in this respect there 



